Targeting domestic violence perpetrators like never before

Half of the repeat domestic violent offenders put on intensive watch in an Australian-first policing initiative have been re-arrested, as the NSW Government gets tough on violence in the home.

The Domestic Violence Suspect Management Plan (II) initiative for the first time targets repeat domestic violence offenders, using the same successful monitoring regime police already use to target repeat break and enter and robbery offenders.

Since a successful five-month trial of the DVSMP(II) in the St George Local Area Command and their state-wide rollout in February this year, exactly half of the 642 domestic violence offenders put on the plans have been rearrested, charged and put before the courts.

Of those arrested, 240 alleged offenders or three quarters were also refused bail.

The DVSMP(II) initiative involves police identifying and putting repeat domestic violence offenders on these plans and then conducting overt checks and covert surveillance to ensure they are abiding by the law and not breaching their domestic violence orders.

Offenders do not know when police may be watching them or may next approach them, making them a powerful deterrent to violent behaviour.

Deputy Premier and Minister for Justice and Police Troy Grant said that the NSW Government is giving the police the resources they need to target domestic violence and putting offenders on notice they are under scrutiny.

“I know from my time in the police force and many other officers’ experiences this sad fact – the same homes, the same victims and the same offenders turn up time and time again when police are called out to domestic violence incidents,” Mr Grant said.

“Under Domestic Violence Suspect Management Plans, the suspects won’t know when they’ll be targeted next. It could be at a roadside traffic stop, it could be in a shopping centre car park or it could be a knock on their front door.’’

“What the suspects will know is that police have an intensive focus on stopping them from causing any more harm or perhaps even taking a life.’’

Minister for the Prevention of Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Pru Goward said that Domestic Violence Suspect Management Plans are a way of putting high-risk domestic violence offenders on notice.

“We know that more than one in five domestic violence offenders will also be convicted of another domestic violence offence within two years,” Ms Goward said.

“You won’t get away with this anymore, we will get you. We will target you, follow you and arrest you.”

“In recent years we have prioritised supporting the victims of domestic violence, and while that’s important work that will always continue, we wanted to shift our operational focus onto the behaviour of offenders,” Assistant Commissioner Fuller said.

The NSW Government has devoted $25 million over four years to rolling out High Risk Offender Teams in all six police regions and 24 additional domestic violence liaison officers to give victims of domestic violence the support they need.